Speed-of-light computing comes a step closer

July 20, 2007 | Source: NewScientist.com news service

Harvard University researchers have devised a light-based transistor made of semiconducting nanowires that could be a key building block of machines that are hundreds of times faster than today’s supercomputers.

It uses a single photon to switch the state of a light beam. This is the first workable suggestion for building an optical computer, they say.